Mud, mud go away! Thank goodness Dave was home yesterday and when he went to pick up two puppies from Hazelton that we arranged to be transported to the Driftwood Vet Clinic in Houston - he also went to the sawmill and picked up dry, fragrant sawdust to cover the mud.  I called our local radio station to put up an ad asking for a ride to Topley or Houston for two pups in a crate. The  Peak  salesman JC was going to Houston and Ann put me on hold to ask if he could take two passengers and he could!  The pups had travelled with Linda from  Hazelton to the Penny Lane grooming salon to wait (her own dog was being groomed too) as her car was going to the shop while she is at court  (she is a lawyer as well as an animal advocate) - multi-tasking is normal up here! JC was going to Sullivans which is just in front of the vet clinic. Perfect! First Dave had to take the group to the vet in Burns Lake - 69 miles in the opposite directions. Halfway there he encountered black ice - he was able to stop but several vehicles could not- he almost hit a lady running in the middle of the highway trying to stop traffic! The RCMP comandered him to wear a red vest and stop traffic, and transport handed him a STOP sign. So Dave directed traffic. He met our vet who opens the clinic in Houston twice a week and she called Burns Lake to tell them Dave would be late!! Finally Dave arrived and then went to the pound to pick up our new arrivals. The works crew didn’t know which dogs were going. Dave THOUGHT there was 2 pups and a white dog. so the crew phoned the office and said only the black dog with the injured face stays - he goes to the vet on Thursday. Dave brought home 4 dogs. He hands me the first dog - a brindle pup - I had her records.
She may be Morning Glory’s pup - they seem to know each other!

 Then a german shepherd puppy - his records are here too

and a black and white puppy. Well I have no record of a black and white puppy. Finally Dave gives me an adult terrier mix tan and white - MALE. Now the vets had told me two males were getting neutered on Thursday - obviously this is one of them! I phoned the vets office to see if they had seen the pup for vaccinations - they hadn’t and the terrier WAS scheduled for his neuter on Thursday. I set them all up in the ex-pen to wait to go back to Burns Lake

They will be back on Thursday after they visit our veterinarian!

and Dave goes to Houston to pick up the two puppies.  A quick call to the Village office and arrangements are made 1. to return the two dogs to the pound and 2. to arrange for the pick up person to stop at the office and pick up a picture of the dogs being picked up. No more mistakes - that is how I send dogs to their new homes - they all have picture ID!  Dave doesn’t know the dogs like I do.
               After Dave brings home the two cocker mix puppies - already vet checked and vaccinated - Thank you Dr Kye of Driftwood,

They are 12 weeks old.

he finally sits down to eat before rushing off to Burns Lake to drop off the pound pups and pick up the speutered (spayed and neutered) dogs. Sampson is  the first one unloaded and he is very glad to be home. I check his records and discover he weighs a hefty 97 pounds!!! He is only 8 months old  - he will be a huge dog. Then Plato comes in - he gives me a wag and lick and rushes into the house. His records say he is 71 pounds. Finally Dutchie comes in and is settled in a crate to sleep off her day. She weighs a svelte 55 pounds. I see the boys are at the food dish - they had missed a couple of meals after all. Dave finishes laying sawdust on the mud and comes in to have a cup of tea before leaving again for Granisle. His big renovation project is almost done - just the roof and siding for the walls of the porch and then it is winterizing here. Poor guy - he is run to death!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

"Catch the wind" started blaring out of the radio at 7 am - time to get up - but the darn song keeps singing away in my head some tunes do that! As I stumbled out of bed - why do dogs decide that legs are so comfy just as you are trying to sit up? As I get to my coffee maker I look out the front kitchen window to the driveway - no green van in the driveway! I’m going to kill him! He promised to be home yesterday afternoon. It was training day yesterday - and Lorna also checked the food drop off - there was 6 large bags of dogs food to be unloaded (thank you to our supporters who daonated the food) , 6 large bags of blankets etc from New to You Thrift shop and brought into the porch and house. My darling temperamentally challenged Squire really has a "thing" for Lorna and barks/howls, yodoles etc at her all day long. He really hates her. I send him into the house - I can still hear him. Noise is much more tiring than physical activity. We had a great supper which I had to cook - no Dave. We updated the petfinder notes as Lorna had worked the dogs. We uploaded pictures of Kitsa for her blog - she didn’t change much this time -but what a cute little girl she is. She came too - it is a socializing time for the little one - she can play with all her old friends. Tired out from the socializing and activity - I was in bed asleep by 10.30.
 But I digress - back to this morning and no Dave! Coffee is on. I catch dear Sampson and put collar and harness on him for his big day. Into the crate he goes to wait.

Then it is Plato’s turn for harness and collar. Lo and behold - there is Dave! He’s lucky - I had dire torture planned for him! I drag/walk Plato to the gate and Dave remarks on the mud. It has been raining all day yesterday and all night  here - but not in Granisle just 40 miles away up the mountain! Plato goes through the gate (dragged)  but walks quietly once out! He goes into the crate in the van. Dutchie is easy - she walks well on leash - very social - so she is next.

 As I get Sampson out of the crate for his drag, Dave comes in with a load of kindling - what a nice guy!  Sampson is dragged relunctantly through the yard and out the gate where he too walks quietly to the van!!  He is lifted in. Harley is called and Dave is on his way - on time for the vet!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

posted by Lorna :
Help! I’ve brought a monster into my home!

The sweet 16 lb puppy adopted Oct 6 has turned into a 19.5 lb chewing machine who gets into everything and destroys it. What did people do before Xpens and crates were invented?

It’s great that Kitsa is full of confidence and feisty and I want to encourage these qualities. It’s not so great when she balances on the back of the couch to pull ornaments off the shelf and make off with them! When I cann’t actively watch her she has to be confined, if she’s not life is a series of "Noes". Don’t touch the garbage, the cat food, electrical cords, the cats; don’t get on the kitchen table or the counters, don’t chew books, papers video tapes — the list of "no"s is endless. I want her life to be full of "yesses", you’re a good dog to come, sit, touch my hand, follow; it’s good to watch me rather than chase the cats, to chew on a bone rather than the couch, to play tug with a dog toy and drop it when asked.

She’s learning fast — she can sit on one command just about anywhere, now I’m adding distractions. She has to sit while I open the door, if she jumps up the door is closed. We’re working on sit while a piece of food is placed on the ground, she can wait until it’s about nose level then jumps up, so it’s going to take a while to reach ground level. She can touch my hand 3 or 4 times for one treat, can follow beside me for 10 or 12 steps on either side. When we’re walking I play games with her, I’ll get 3 or 4 feet ahead of her, call her name and walk quickly away with one hand held out to the side saying "touch". If she comes to the outstretched hand I click and treat, if she comes to the other side nothing happens. This is ground work for both obedience and agility. When she’s not actively engaged with something I’ll call her to come  — sometimes staying still and guiding her into front position, sometimes running away, sometimes dragging a tug toy — there’s always lots of praise, excitement, special treats or games when she gets to me. We’re also doing restrained recalls, one person holds her while the other calls, we want her to run between us, this also gets her comfortable with being held and going to someone else for affection and treats.

I’ve also started to work on shaping with her, I want her to learn that her behaviour affects her environment. With a small cardboard box on the floor and her supper nearby I wait for her to investigate. Any interaction with the box is rewarded  –  looking, touching with nose or paws, putting a foot inside, pushing across the floor, to encourage as many different behaviours as possible I only click 2 or 3 times for each one. What she does is not important, it’s the process.    It’s encouraging her to interact with her environment and to think, to learn that certain behaviours will be rewarded. The first couple of sessions she was confused, she would paw the box a couple of times then wander off, or continue to paw after I stopped treating. By keeping sessions short, 5 or 6 clicks, and ending when she had done something with confidence, she soon learned the game, now she touches it with her nose and looks at me as if to say "was that good enough? do I earn a treat?"

                                   

 

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Picture 001 is about 1 month after she arrive in our home

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Dave!! I know - a day late and a dollar short - the story of my life.

Turtle Gardens welcomes 4 new arrivals - cute, little, lab mixes- I think Thank you Terry for driving them all the way from Hazelton - a 2 hour drive one way! He said the mother was a tall white dog maybe a maramma. It took him 45 minutes to round them up. Then he had a look at the shepherd mixes he had brought here last time and was astounded at how big they are!! No more skinny puppies!!

This is Sgt. Pepper - the smallest of the shep mix pups

This is Lou - short for Lieutenant, the only female of the skinny group. Not anymore - they averaged 20 to 23 pounds at their veterinary appointment on Thursday!

And Finally  - Colonel Puppter:

And now the mystery puppies with no names as yet - maybe that is a good thing!!

the littlest blondie is a male - the only one of the four.

The smaller black female

And the larger black female:

Now another HAPPY ENDINGS - the rhyme and reason for Turtle Gardens!!!!!

Ian & Rose

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

There is nothing more frustrating than being on the wrong side of a locked door! Our front door sticks once in a while but yesterday was beyond sticking - it actually locked itself! It is a very good thing that Dave doesn’t put away his tools after using them - I found a crowbar on the picnic table. Of course I had jiggled the door, banged it, jiggled and banged it together - all the simple things that one does when encountering a stuck door. But this one was locked. Some of the dogs were still inside and they were howling - “Mom is outside and can’t get in - make noise to help!!” So I started using the crowbar. This is a very tough frame and lock. But it was no match for a frustrated rescue mom. It finally gave up and let me in and the inside dogs out. It doesn’t lock anymore but who in their right mind would walk in here unannounced?

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

-The problem with living in a zoo - and I don’t really think it is a problem per se - is that the dogs are always underfoot! I do the dog pound shuffle a lot! Just so little paws dancing around me don’t get stepped on Somedays no matter what I do yelps accompany me wherever I go! You would think they would learn?
   Reuben has turned into an incredible suck since his neuter. He is sitting behind my chair wailing away because Squire and Sweetpea
Squire on a warmer day - aren’t the colours vibrant!

are with me in the x-pen around the desk. Squire growls at him when he tries to come in. The two have decided that for today or right now they are special  - they earned the right to be next to me. Except for Katie on my feet under the desk - I am surrounded by the non-adoptables or my dogs. Once the non-adoptables have been here for 5 years - then they are mine and will live their lives with. Of course they need one on one time so they are the ones that get to follow me into the desk area, or into the bathroom - there might be a trap door that I can escape from in there! And they have first dibs in the bedroom. Sweetpea is little Miss Queenbee (my grand-daughter calls her House Hippo!) - so she sleeps under the covers next to me.  
The other guys all clamor for my attention throughout the day. I often find myself stopping, stooping to pet or touch some little body asking for special time.  It is instictive - most of the time I have no idea my hand is stroking a silky head or ear as I walk.  I feel like Pied Piper with the mass of bodies following my every move. Do I mind? Not a bit!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

My camera has arrived! Thank you Wendy for sending it to us - I have said it before - Pictures are the lifeblood of Turtle Gardens. Without good pictures - no adoptions! 95% of all our adoptions are long distance through petfinder.com. So far this year TG has placed 140 happy dogs into very happy homes! We will hit the 4000 mark early next year. TG has made a difference in homeless dogs lives - with the new camera we can continue adoptions!! Thank you Wendy!!
  Dave bought a memory card for the camera yesterday so I can upload pictures directly into the computer - no cords for teething pups to chew. The camera is quite small and fits in my pocket - no leaving it on the desk for teething/thieving pups to chew! Here are an assortment of pictures taken yesterday. This is big Bronson in the tub! For some reason that is his spot! He is not doing well with his neuter - he refuses to walk! I have to force him to get up. "But it hurts, Mom!"

Dozer took his neuter in stride! He is a very active boy! He enjoys romping with Bear and Storm! He does not show his age at all - he has the energy levels of a much younger dog!
Blue eyed Lunar! Now he can go up on petfinder and find a family!!

This camera takes very good pictures!! This is Brier racing across the yard! It’s a HP635.

  These are two new pups that have just arrived wihtin two days of each other! They are both 7 months old, Oola the dark one is a female while the well marked huge pup is Tuk - a male! Obviously they are related! A very good point on why to NOT breed your dog. How many more will be looking for a safe haven!!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.